St. Vincent on Her Burgeoning Indie Fame

By

Garin Pirnia

Feb 2, 2011 9:00 am ET

Multi-instrumentalist Annie Clark, who goes by the sobriquet St. Vincent, went from touring with Sufjan Stevens to recording her own successful 2007 orchestral pop debut Marry Me (“Arrested Development” reference alert!) and soon began opening for indie stalwarts Arcade Fire and the National. She followed the achievement of her first record with an even more complex second record, 2009’s Actor, where she used her guitar dexterity to generate fuzzy, distorted rhythms and in return wowed crowds with her guitar shredding live performances.

Ever the collaborator, last year she joined forces with Beck’s Record Club series covering Inxs’ album Kick in its entirely with Liars Angus Andrew and Sérgio Dias Baptista of Os Mutantes. Now 28-years-old, the New York-based Clark seems like a seasoned veteran in a fickle music industry as she puts touring on hold to prep two new records: her third solo record that she’s slated to record in her home state of Texas, and one with indie rock nurturer David Byrne. ASCAP (The American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers) invited Clark to perform a couple of stripped down shows at the Sundance Festival last week for the 13th anniversary of Sundance ASCAP Music Café series held eight days during the fest where musicians perform intimate free shows. Speakeasy caught up with the luminous Clark at the ASCAP Cafe in Park City, UT before her second show.

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